In most automotive instrument clusters, a protective surround, hood, or frame projects from the front face of the instrument panel and surrounds one or more dials forming part of the display. In this description, all such protective display surrounding features are referred to as “surrounds”. These surrounds are designed primarily to shield the face of the dials from direct sunlight, thereby making them easier to read, but may also help protect the face of the display, or a transparent cover or lens in front of the display, from accidental contact. Particularly in automotive applications, the surround also has an aesthetic function and can be important in the styling of a vehicle dashboard.
In many cases, the transparent cover or lens extends across the surround to protect the front face of the dials from dust and prevent a user from interfering with the dials. Usually, however, at least a front edge of the surround protrudes from the cover and is accessible to a user of the vehicle.
In order to improve the aesthetics of the instrument panel, a decorative ring or trim element may be placed over a protruding edge of the surround. Traditionally, there are a number of methods that can be used to secure the decorative ring in position.
Saddle clips may be used to secure larger rings that are self-supporting. The saddle clips secure a bottom edge of the ring to an edge of the surround. However, these clips usually require a relatively large amount of space around the edge of the dial in order to have room to fix the saddle clip in position. This method is, therefore, not suited to slimmer designs of decorative rings.
Another method of securing a decorative ring is to use heat-staking. However, this method is not always possible in cluster designs in which there is limited access to the rear of the dial. In general, this method is only used on cluster designs having an open shape to the rear surface of the surround to prevent the heat staking tool from damaging other parts of the surround.
Alternatively, point clips may be used. The point clips project from the bottom edge of the decorative ring and are designed to pass through a hole in the dial surround. The clip is then pressed outwards to hold the ring securely in place. As with heat staking, this method of attachment is not suitable for cluster designs having limited rear access.
It would be desirable to develop an improved means of securing a decorative ring or trim element to a display surround such as a mask of an instrument cluster.